Colorful South American Buses, Part 2

If you are braving some of the riskiest roads, you might as well have a colorful ride!DRB Time-Slice: 1969 Vehicles: Latin America Buses

Continuing with our theme from the previous 1966 Time-Slice, here is a smorgasbord of various interesting buses and truck-conversions from different countries in South America, most of them using standard production models from the 1960s and 1970s - just wildly embellished and decorated.

Ornate Venezuelan Buses from the 1960s

"While an inexpensive bus service is available to most destinations throughout the country, the high incidence of criminal activity on public transportation makes bus travel inadvisable." Such is the admonishment and a solemn advisory that a curious tourist will find on amny websites today when planning to cross South America by bus. While it certainly can be true in rough areas and during unstable political times, there is no denying the added sense of adventure and excitement when you board some of these beautiful "heroes of mountain highways".

Bus transportation historically is the most popular (and sometimes the only available) way for local population to get from one place to another, especially if destinations are strewn across mountain ranges. Roofs are typically utilized to carry passengers, or a huge load of cargo:

But if bus travel stayed essentially the same, the amount of ornamentation on buses increased significantly: left image shows buses in Venezuela in the 1950s, while the right image shows over-the-top Haitian bus decorations:

And now... this example is perhaps the utmost in all-out bus decoration (seen in Jamundi, Colombia):

converted Ford trucks proved to be very popular on local bus lines, as well as various Jeepney "Chicken / Customized" buses. However, inside some urban areas buses can be incredibly primitive and ugly-looking "things on wheels":

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4 Comments:

A couple of errors:The bus bearing registration number 253 KTA isn't Venezuelan; it's a 1950s Bristol in the livery of an English West country operator, Royal Blue(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Blue_Coach_Services). For some reason a Venezuelan travel blog seems to have used the image, hence, presumably, its inclusion here.

The monochrome image just above the really wacky Jamundi, Colombia image does seem to be from Venezuela (the destination boards are in Spanish, not Portuguese).

For anyone interested, the 'Contraband Love' bus is based on a '40s - '50s Commer truck.

I visit the site for years! Congratulations!And ... I am Brazilian, I know quite my country. About 20 years ago I do not see no sign of Mercedes-Benz O321H. That picture is a car collector's show. Not sure if there is a law that regulates the exchange of bus time to time, but the fleet is no longer profitable to from the 6th year. Thus, theoretically, there is a return.

Today, the vast majority of coaches are air-conditioned; and urban, younger, more comfort. Even in the inner cities.

When we see older buses, are on average between 1980 - 2000 .... And are private bus, or shell companies or "hinterlands" of Brazil, there is still enough poverty and difficulties in almost everything.